The public house is actually an extension of the coach house. Couch houses were the inevitable destination of any rural worker who enjoyed and could afford alcohol. When the urban migration began in the 1830s, public houses started to become common in the poorer districts of town. A public house is officially open to any member of the public who desires its services; often it provides a communal meeting place for a neighborhood. In reality, many public houses are dens of organized crime, prostitution and unlicensed gambling. Public houses are not the exclusive province of the working class ruffian, but the coarse few control the many in such places, and they are to be avoided by gentlemen with no desire for violence or contempt.